picture of eve, for amy

here you go amy!

january

eve had her doctor's appointment on monday morning... she's about 17.5 pounds now, and 26 inches (i think)... she's 99% for height and 97% for weight! i'd been thinking, "wow, she sure seems to be getting heavy!"

being a dad continues to be wonderful... eve's 5 months old now, so lots more laughing, grabbing, "talking" to herself, and almost rolling over. part of me wishes she'd stay this age forever, and the other part can't wait to see what she's like a month from now... not a bad place to be.

winter in michigan sucks... i'm sorry, it just sucks--really nothing mitigating that suckiness either. not like i'm out there cross-country skiing or snowmobiling. i wish they'd create some SUPER-MALLS here in Michigan... i'm thinking like a square mile indoors, 3-4 levels high, sunroof everywhere, plus artificial sunlight. playgrounds, basketball courts, etc... wouldn't that be cool? heck, i'd go there every day.

i'm preaching again next weekend, on *anger*.. part of a relationship series we're in. can't wait! i was really pissed when ken suggested that i preach on anger... almost lost it and went ballistic on him. where does he get the nerve? (just kidding, of course)

i just bought BDAG and HALOT for my Accordance program. if that doesn't mean anything to you, you won't really care even if i explain it. i'm very happy with my Mac these days... the more I use it, the more i like it. even the things that annoyed me are starting to fade away as I get more comfortable with things. microsoft programs still seem to work a bit better in Windows, but that's no surprise.

i'm listening to 'lolita' (nabokov), 'truth & fiction in the da vinci code' (ehrman), and listening to the history of early christianity, a lecture series by ehrman. i'm thinking of starting 'the historian', which is a novel by someone in ann arbor (i've heard) and is selling very well... kind of a thriller/historical kind of novel.

just started our new small group on Tuesday evening... i loved it! there were three couples, the bromleys, the botts, and the thaxtons... our fourth couple, the o'neills couldn't be there. what a great bunch of people... i'm really looking forward to it.

our new pet!

well, julie and i finally broke down and bought a pet. he's short, round, and a little noisy, likes to eat off the floor, and we love him. his name is Roomba--he's a vacuuming robot. bought him at Sam's Club.

i'm preaching this weekend... part 2 of an evangelism series. ken started the series off saying that everything he's heard on the topic really frustrates him. that's a great set-up for me to do part 2!!! no pressure. fortunately he's preaching (part 1 of the series) in milan this weekend.

we're having a few friends over for a new year's get-together this evening. i'm really looking forward to it. i guess i'll be a little bleary-eyed tomorrow morning for the 9:30 celebration, but starbucks is on the way there.

we had a wonderful christmas at the chilimigras ranch... julie's brother & sister were there, along with their spouses and kids. it was absolutely adorable having the three babies there together... see below:

december

okay... it's been a long time without a post. i feel like the longer i go between posts, the better the posts should be, so i end up writing nothing. kinda stupid.

anyway, being a dad is just wonderful. i love every minute of it... or 99% of it anyway. i'm sure there are moments when she's really fussy that i'm not "loving" it, but that's pretty rare. but i do look forward to waking up, just so i can go in and see her in the morning. she always gives me a huge smile and even a giggle sometimes.

what's new? hmmm... well, i made a DVD for my in-laws. it features slideshows (set to christmas music) of all 7 grandkids. i had each of the siblings send me 30-40 pictures per kid, from birth to present. then i arranged them, did a lot of photo-shopping to make them all look great, and did the Ken Burns effect on them (moving pictures, panning in and out, etc.) also did a cool DVD menu and such... i'm really happy with how it all came out, but MAN it's a lot of work. i also had to scan a lot of pictures from when the parents didn't have digital cameras.

i'm home working with eve today. i love it... she's taking naps really well now, so i can actually get some work done too.

i've been listening to some good books recently. on the fun side i finished "the lincoln lawyer" by michael connely (sp?)... it was a good, action-packed story... great for summer or vacation reading/listening. right now i'm listening to some lectures by bart ehrman, a biblical studies guy at UNC--great stuff.

the ph.d. research is a bit slow right now just because of the holiday busy-ness. hoping to ramp that up in January.

julie started her new part-time job at U of M. she's really enjoying it, and gets to work some of her hours from home. plus, full benefits! thank you jesus.

looking forward to a new year's eve get-together with a few friends. i have to preach that weekend, so should be interesting! might be a tad tired on sunday morning.

see ya later!

thanks

we had a great little poker night yesterday. there were only four of us, but that didn't seem to diminish the fun of it one bit. played 'texas hold'em' as usual, and all four of us were still in the game at 8:45, which is amazing... usually someone is out long before that. all four of us were "all in" at some point in the game, which is also crazy. i ended up winning--i can't remember if that's the first time or not. sam bott came for the first time, along with jeff zapor and peter VW. three great guys.

i just downloaded Enya's new CD, "Amarantine"... I love Enya! I used Enya tracks on the Eve DVD I made a while back. I'm sure to use this latest album for the next DVD I make. listening to her music is like getting a spa treatment... just makes you feel relaxed all over.

we're heading out to Kalamazoo tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with the Chilimigras family. it should be a fun time, and lots of babies! Ava (Eve's cousin) will be there, who is only 2 months older than Eve. Christine's family will be there too.

i finished installing a bathroom fan in the upstairs bathroom. wow, what a project! had to cut a hole in the bathroom ceiling, install the fan housing, install a new switch (which involved cutting a larger switch box hole), install a new junction box in the ceiling, run new cable from the switch and the fan to the junction box, reposition the insulation in the attic, cut a hole in the roof, go up on the roof to install the outlet duct (quite a hairy project on a 2-story house), and then connect the ducting in the attic.

yeah, i'm looking forward to thanksgiving!

back in the USA

it's SO good to be home. i had a fantastic time in England, and a great response to my paper, but it's SO good to be home.

Eve looked just a tad bigger than when i left, but hadn't started walking or anything while i was gone (thank God). she's kicking a lot more now, which is fun, and her neck is much stronger, so she can keep her head straight when she's vertical. right now she's on her little play mat talking to the little lion suspended above her. she seems to really prefer the lion, so the giraffe is getting ignored.

the best thing happened yesterday while i was watching her... she laughted at me! i was smiling at her, so she started smiling really big, which caused me to start laughing, and then she laughed back. it was the cutest thing in the world.. one of the highlights in my life so far. Eve is staring at me whenever she has the chance... i must look funny to her, because my face is fascinating.

life is good. julie's back to work part-time now, so i work from home on thursday afternoon and all day friday. i can only work about half the time while i'm watching her, so will have to make up the extra time during the week.

i'll write more later... gotta get to work.

englishman

i'm sitting here in my room at Trinity. i'm very happy the wi-fi is working... i've got a nice view from my window, and it's very quiet--perfect for study.

i really miss my family! it's amazing how connected you become to your spouse and child. i really wish they were here with me. we'll have to find a way for them to join me next visit. i miss seeing eve when she wakes up, with those big full-body stretches, and rubbing her eyes with her fists. i miss hearing her talk to the fishes on her crib's mobile (thanks dad!) just miss being at home.

i've got another meeting with nolland today at 2pm. his new Matthew Commentary is coming out soon. should be excellent from what i've heard.

on saturday i'm going to be getting together with the hardison's daughter and son-in-law, who live in Bristol. it's a small world!

in the UK

i'm back in Bristol for the week, doing meetings with my advisor and a paper presentation on monday. i had my first meeting with dr. nolland this afternoon, and it went better than i had expected. the paper i put together was quite a bit rougher than i had hoped, because i really didn't work on it much before October. having a baby kinda puts things on hold! anyway, the overall gist of things was that he's happy with my writing style, and although i'll have to do a much more interacting with secondary sources in my final project, he thought i had some originality of thought expressed in what he's read. that's a nice compliment, considering he's written two major commentaries on the gospels and a couple hundred articles. so, not feeling to bad.

i really miss julie and the baby. i've been used to seeing the baby every day over the last couple of months, and it's weird being away. can't wait to get back and play with her. man, i just couldn't have one of those jobs where you have to travel a lot... at least not unless i could take the whole family with me every time.

the flight over wasn't bad. it was very full, but they put me in a seat that doesn't have another seat in front of it, which was great. didn't sleep, but sort of rested. i'm struggling to get back on some kind of schedule today. still quite tired.

i love england. i love the climate, the scenery, the history, the people, the language... love it. i love being able to study here, interact with a scholar like nolland... man, this is too cool. i'm so blessed.

well, i'll try to keep in touch this week. the college finally got wi-fi, so i can do this from my room, which is great.

bye!

U2, paper, curly hair

Should be a fun day today--going to see U2 tonight at the Palace with Ken and Craig. I think I'll enjoy hanging out with those guys as much as the concert.

Still trying to get a paper written! Man, I only have until Sunday.. still a long way to go on it. Maybe I'll just show them pictures of my baby instead of giving a paper.

Whenever we give her a bath, Eve's hair turns all curly!

i'm still alive

here's one of my favorite pictures:




life is good! eve's sleeping about 7 hours a night for the last couple of weeks... wow, what a difference a few hours makes!

just got back this afternoon from a pastor-board retreat; what an awesome group of people! couldn't ask for a better bunch.

i'm trying to put together a paper to present in Bristol the first week of November. it's a bit daunting, but i'm fairly confident i'll come up with something.

looking forward to another guy's poker night, if i can ever schedule one... hopefully in a couple of weeks.

ta ta

more pictures

all about eve - the birth

the pushing phase of labor was by far the worst part. because of the epidural, the active phase of labor wasn't too bad, but the anesthesia didn't seem to even touch this pain. each push brought julie enormous pain, but the midwife kept urging her to "push into the pain"... seems to me kinda like telling a football player with a broken leg, bone sticking out of the flesh, to just "play through the pain." keep running on that leg and ignore the fact that that bone seems to be working its way out of body, blood spurting everywhere.

the most amazing thing was to look down and begin to see the top of the baby's head. how incredible! there really is a baby in there! the hair looked dark, and there was more of it than i would have expected. both julie and i were bald babies.

a few pushes later, the baby's head was out. they suctioned her mouth and nose out. there seemed to be an arm wrapped up around her neck, but couldn't really tell which one! the elbow was still obscured... i'm sure having that elbow up like that didn't make things easier for julie.

soon our baby was all the way out, and they laid her right up on julie's stomach. she started crying--what a sweet voice! i cut the umbilical cord, and just like that... she was on her own! (well, not completely) how amazing... a new person.

---THURSDAY---

julie had torn quite badly, and was bleeding profusely. they wrapped the baby up and handed her over to me. i sat down and held her close as they spent the next 45 minutes stitching julie up. it seemed no matter how many stitches they put in, the blood kept seeping. julie told me later that she could feel each stitch going in; it was agony... oh how i wish we could have turned up that epidural!!

eventually they got the bleeding under control. for the next few days i would be pushing julie around in a wheelchair. she could hardly move without excruciating pain.

pictures

a couple pictures of our cutie:

all about eve - wednesday

when we arrived at the hospital wednesday morning at about 3am, julie was still at only 2 centimeters, but was now 100% effaced. because the sleeping pill didn't work, they gave her some stronger pain medicine, and checked us into a room (bed #14 at U of M).

the room was HUGE... much bigger than we were expecting, with a very large bathtub. a stark contrast to the small triage rooms where we had been the previous hours! comfortable lighting, windows to the outside, plenty of chairs... not bad. unfortunately it didn't include a cot or mattress for me, so i had to try sleeping in a reclining chair.

the pain meds helped julie get some sleep between contractions. i, however, didn't sleep at all... maybe if i were 5'6" instead of 6'6" i could have managed a few hours, but the darn thing just didn't go back far enough for me to spread out. so this was night #2 without any sleep at all.

in the morning julie got checked out again, and was up to about 4 centimeters, so things were coming along, but very slowly. for the rest of the morning and early afternoon we worked on various positions to help with the labor. by the afternoon she was up to about 6 centimeters, but was really tired and in a lot more back pain.

the exhaustion and pain was just too much (at this point it's been over 36 hours), so we opted for an epidural. this was a blessing from heaven! julie could still feel the contractions, but the pain was largely eliminated.

in order to speed things up, they broke julie's water early that evening. that did the trick... pretty soon she was up to 8 and 9 centimeters, and by about 10pm she was ready to start pushing.

(more later)

the week eve came to town - the first 24 hours

i'm going to try to write down some of what i remember from the last week, from the time julie went into labor. sleep has been little and far between, so this won't likely be the most coherent or eloquent recollection, but who cares about that anyway?

THE FIRST 24 HOURS

the contractions began at about 2am on Tuesday morning, August 16. julie woke me up saying that she thought they were the real thing. i was really tired, and not expecting our baby to arrive until later that week, so i tried to convince us both that they would probably go away.

they kept coming, about every 9 minutes. i hadn't gotten to bed until about 1am that night, and was already sleep deprived... i thought "this is not a good time"... i was actually hoping that it wasn't *real* labor, but simply the early stuff.

by morning the contractions were speeding up a bit, maybe every 6-7 minutes. we called our nurse-midwife. she told us to just hang in there until the contractions were about every 2-3 minutes. wow! in the movies you just drive your wife to the hospital with that first contraction--what a load of bunk!

for the rest of the morning they kept coming about every 5 minutes or so. we decided to go to the mall, walk around... hopefully speed things up. whenever julie would walk, the contractions would speed up. at the mall they started coming every 3-4 minutes during walking time, so we decided to leave and get ready to go to the hospital.

once julie sat back down, they slowed to every 7-8 minutes or so. how confusing!! we called the midwife again. she told us to just keep laboring at home, and wait until the contractions were every 2-3 minutes. OR, we could come in that evening around 8 so that they could give julie something to help her sleep.

by about 8 the contractions were still only every 5 minutes or so, but we were exhausted... we headed to the hospital. once there, we waited around for an hour while the more obviously laboring women were admitted first. once we got in, julie was checked... only 2 centimeters and 60% effaced! argh... they gave julie something to help with sleep, and we got out of there around 11pm.

at about 2am wednesday morning, julie was in some really serious pain... the contractions were really strong now, and the pain was mostly in her lower back. i was out of my mind trying to help her... not having slept since sunday night. i packed her up and headed back to the hospital.

[more to come]

baby Bromley

introducing...

Eve Chilimigras Bromley

born Wednesday, August 17 at 11:36pm
9 pounds 2 ounces, 20 1/2 inches



we had quite an eventful week, with a 46 hour labor, and a couple of scary days due to Eve's hyperbilirubinemia (caused by ABO incompatibility of the blood types). she's fine now... i'll say more later when i can gather myself and reflect. we just had an appointment with the pediatrician this morning, and she's doing wonderfully... she's 95% for weight and 97% for height!

the pool of siloam

it appears that they've discovered the pool of siloam in jerusalem! i love it when archaeology confirms the biblical story.

check out this link to the LA Times article:

Biblical Pool Uncovered in Jerusalem


As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. (John 9:1-7)

a poem for my little girl

a little girl,
yet descended,
a new soul
newly founded.

eyes closed
to my world,
still she dreams,
thoughts impearled.

what dreams
can yet unlived
life design,
or hope uplift?

and how can i,
being passing by,
hold her gaze,
sight's first supply?

the giver's choice,
can i demur?
no, i can but take
and to god offer

Surveys - Fun

here are a couple of online surveys you can take... i'd be interested in how you scored, and what category that puts you in.

Spiritual Type Survey

i scored an 82, so i'm a 'true believer'! woohoo! however, i'm 8 points shy of 'candidate for clergy'... darn.

What Kind of Christian Are You?

i scored 342. i'm not even going to tell you what that makes me, according to them!!!


[oh, this is neat... sam's club called for 'copyright release' on a couple of 'studio pictures' that i uploaded there for printing. the funny thing is, they were a couple pregnancy pictures i took of julie, that i did some minor photoshopping on. guess i'll have to open a studio!]

online discussions

ugh... i'm thoroughly disappointed in myself. i should have known better than to engage in an online 'debate' on an atheist website with people using pseudonymns. not suprisingly, the 'debate' quickly degenerates into aspersions and insults. i can't say i'm totally innocent on that count either, as i'm somtimes... eh... sarcastic. this doesn't surprise anyone who knows me. anyhow, the experience was fun for a while, and they did give me some interesting things to think about. the also gave me some interesting feedback on my master's thesis (which they had access to because i shared my 'don's corner' with them). of course, they all preferred to remain anonymous, so it wasn't really a fair fight.

it reminded me a lot of when i used to get into those online discussions in college, but i was coming at them from a completely different angle.

ta ta,

don